Sports technology is now at the forefront of cutting-edge engineering and is supporting the highest standards of sporting excellence in Ireland’s elite athletes, Caroline Spillane, Director General of Engineers Ireland has said.

She was speaking at the TOBIN National Sports Campus Open Day in Abbotstown as part of the celebrations for Engineers Week 2017 (supported by Science Foundation Ireland) which is featuring 680 events for 58,000 participants across Ireland.

Supporting the Engineers Week 2017 event, Minister for Education & Skills, Richard Bruton TD said: “‘The TOBIN Consulting Engineers National Sports Campus Open Day offers an excellent insight into what engineering can achieve in the real and tangible way. The state-of-the-art facilities on show at the Campus offer the perfect backdrop for students and members of the general public alike to explore the power and capabilities of engineering during Engineers Week. This access, to some of the most innovative sporting infrastructure in Europe, is an excellent event for Engineers Week and both Engineers Ireland and TOBIN Consulting Engineers will certainly reach a broad audience through this unique approach.”

Director General of Engineers Ireland, Caroline Spillane, said: “The link between engineering and sport possibly isn’t an obvious one for the public at large. The engineering expertise that is integral to the construction of these fantastic facilities here today is incredibly impressive. But the mechanical, biomedical and electronic engineering ingenuity that is behind the cutting-edge equipment and innovative data analytics that are used here at the Campus to produce high-performance, elite Irish athletes is truly phenomenal.

“Engineers Week is a chance for parents and young people to find out more about the many career opportunities available within the engineering sector and learn about the kind of skills that qualified engineers can build on as they move through their careers. There are often narrow views and misconceptions about what engineers do, so it’s fantastic to be able to see the diversity and ingenuity first-hand of engineering in the sports arena here today,” she added.

Shane Kelly, TOBIN Consulting Engineers, said: “The sporting infrastructure now in place at the National Sports Campus provides world-class facilities which will further improve our athlete’s chances of success while competing on the international stage. These facilities, which are also central to the future growth of Irish sport across a number of key disciplines, were developed from a very ambitious vision shaped from the outset by Sport Ireland. Our Open Day today is providing students and members of the general public alike with an opportunity to see how engineering has helped to bring this vision to reality.”

The Open Day event also included an address from Eoghan Clifford, Engineering Lecturer at NUI Galway, multiple UCI Para-cycling World Champion and Rio de Janeiro gold medallist. Clifford spoke to the children, parents and public present about the growing role of engineering in Irish sport with David Conway, Director of the National Sports Campus, also giving a presentation on sporting infrastructure. Additionally, there was a tour for the public of the state-of-the-art National Sports Campus where Ireland’s elite athletes are developed.

The Campus provides state-of-the-art sporting facilities to elite athletes in Ireland while offering valuable amenities to the local community in North Dublin. It boasts an impressive array of facilities including the National Aquatic Centre, the Irish Institute of Sport High Performance Centre - providing sports science and medical facilities, a National Modern Pentathlon Centre, a National Horse Sport Arena, a National Diving Centre, and outdoor synthetic playing pitches, complete with floodlights and pavilion. The recently-opened National Indoor Arena nowforms the centre-piece of this impressive site.

Now in its 11th year, Engineers Week, running until March 10, is an annual campaign to inspire the next generation of engineers and excite students about the possibilities a career in engineering can offer. The campaign is coordinated on a national basis by Engineers Ireland's STEPS programme – funded as a strategic partner of Science Foundation Ireland’s Smart Futures Programme.

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